Wanted: Maid
by A Little Birdie Tells Me
Summary: Pain was always too busy discerning which way best to take over the world, to find the time to drop by to have supper with his subordinates. But for once that he did come, the food decided to blow up in his face. "THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH! SASORI DRAW UP FLYERS! DAMN FUNDS, WE NEED A MAID!" Re-written.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: **I do NOT own Naruto. Naruto and its characters are created by Masashi Kishimoto. This is purely Fanfiction and had been written for entertainment purposes only and without any intention of infringing upon any copyright. Also, smoking and consumption of alcohol or tobacco is injurious for the health. Thanks.

**A/N: **You might have come across this story before. This would be because I put this story up years back but due to some inconvenience, it got deleted from my account before I could finish it. So during the two years of absence, I've obviously improved more or less and now I want to give it a go. And this time I'll try my best to finish it.

* * *

**Wanted: Maid**

_**Chapter 1**_

* * *

Pain, despite being a leader who insisted on everyone getting along, wasn't usually the one to find spare time to just drop in and have supper with his subordinates. Not bothering to attend such trifle matters, he preferred to stay locked up in his office with much more important things to think about; i.e. trying to discern which way best to take over the world.

Instead, he left the whole matter of 'kitchens & dinner' to Konan's capable hands. And since he never came down to such dinners, he had no knowledge of what to expect. Because if he did have the slightest idea of what went on beyond that one particular door of the Akatsuki hide-out, he surely would have passed the offer.

Hence, in all his ignorance, the almighty leader of Akatsuki found himself sitting at the head of the long table in the dining hall one fine evening. Or, what could be called the dining hall of Akatsuki.

Immediately Pain found himself cursing Konan for ever mentioning the prospect of him coming down to dinner for once. He cursed himself more for never taking the time to know what a "dinner" with the Akatsuki entailed.

"Oi! Fish-fucker! Pass me a sake bottle!"

A vein popped out on Kisame's forehead, but complied with what he was asked and sent a sake bottle flying straight into Hidan's head.

_BAM!_

As the small bottle broke at the impact, Kisame grinned, flashing his very sharp teeth, "Bulls eye!"

Hidan growled, massaging the side of his head, "Fuck you!"

'_Yes, that is a very fine point,'_ Pain decided, _'Fuck them all.'_

"What? You could've just ducked, ya know," Kisame goaded the already fuming Jashinist, "Or are you losing your touch."

A finer point! Pain frowned, was Hidan really losing his touch? Were the others doing the same? He was certain that Kisame's moves had been predictable enough for Hidan to catch on... Pain decided that he would introduce a training regimen the first thing in the morning; he couldn't afford to allow his people to become impotent. Yes, Akatsuki was a place for the very best.

'_Yahiko had made that point very clear,'_ he nodded to himself, never feeling surer of anything.

Pain was brought back from his thoughts by the noise of Hidan jumping on top of the table, his scythe pulled out. Kisame seemed like he hadn't expected nothing less and followed Hidan's suit, with his enormous sword drawn.

'_Samehada made noises, why didn't I know that?'_ Pain noticed grumpily before sounds of metal clashing with metal echoed throughout the underground room.

Pain mentally face palmed, what did he exactly live with?

Clearing his throat loudly, which failed to stop the Jashinist or the sword-nin he noticed very disapprovingly, Pain commanded in the sternest voice he could muster, "Hidan! Kakuzu! Get down from the table if you don't want Ko-"

Zetsu made his appearance...

...

...

...

... with Tobi halfway down his mouth.

Of course, it wasn't a surprise to anyone. In fact no one other than Pain even bothered to look at the newest arrival. Pain truly felt like committing suicide for letting such immature freaks in Akatsuki.

'_Oh, I've let you down, Yahiko!'_ He thought desperately.

"Zetsu, drop Ma-" he caught himself and said hurriedly, "I mean Tobi." No one seemed to have noticed his almost slip up. Phew!

'_That was close,'_ he cursed under his breath.

Zetsu, probably deciding it was not best to go against the Leader's words, then dropped Tobi on the floor, and contorted his face into something that Pain assumed was a pout, "But I'm hungryyyyyyyyy!"

Pain didn't know what looked more horrendous, Zetsu 'pouting' or the sight of Tobi covered in green slime. In the end he decided if he had to choose, he'd rather look at Tobi who was beginning to stir, than Zetsu who appeared in Pain's nightmares enough as it was.

"Tobi is hungry toooooo! Leader-sama," Tobi ran over to Pain desperately seeking shelter, "Zetsu doesn't let Tobi eat! And Tobi is soooo hungry!"

Zetsu growled at the masked source of inanity, "That doesn't mean that you can ravish my flowers!"

Pain mentally smacked himself; he should have known this was about the precious 'flowers' that Zetsu had recently taken an interest in harvesting. They had been having this same fight two months ago, only the last time they had been in the middle of an important Akatsuki meeting.

'_Which is a reasonable place for raising issues,'_ Pain considered. _'Not that these idiots care!'_ He glared at the said idiots.

Kisame, who had resumed his place in his chair along with Hidan, chose to reveal his sense of 'art', "You seriously call those flowers?"

Zetsu glared, "They are perfectly okay and pretty."

When Kisame laughed at his face, Zetsu snapped, "Shut up! What would you know about beauty? You are a freak of nature."

'_And are you any better?'_ Pain commented to himself referring to the white-black colored walking, breathing Venus fly-trap.

Kisame colored, Zetsu had hit a nerve Pain could see it reflected on the shark-nin's colored face. He seemed to speak the leader's mind as he yelled, "YOU ARE THE ONE TO TALK!"

Zetsu chose to ignore the comment and stick his nose up in the air, rather haughtily, "My flowers are beautiful pieces of art. You are just jealous"

Sasori who had been so quiet that Pain had almost not noticed him there among them, spoke for the first time; definitely offended by Zetsu's sense of art.

"Art is something that can endure the passage of time... eternal beauty. Most definitely not flowers since they tend to die."

Kisame howled in laughter, obviously pleased with the turn of events. Zetsu hissed, but Sasori said no more.

'At least Zetsu has the good sense to shut up,' Pain thanked the heavens, and also for the fact that Sasori wasn't someone who talked much because the leader wasn't in the mood for some speech about art and whatnot that Deidara surely would have spewed out had he been here...

Pain looked around at Sasori, frowning, noticing the absence of Sasori's feminine blonde partner for the first time.

"Sasori, where is Deidara?" He asked.

"Sorry, Leader-sama but Deidara is..."

_**BOOM!**_

A loud clash of noises rang out from down the hallway. All the other Akatsuki members sniggered as Pain sat there clueless and frowning and thinking what could be coming his way next.

'_Surely nothing worse than,'_ he glared specifically at Zetsu and Tobi, _'these!'_

Then a blonde woman burst out from the doorway and staggered into the room. Or what Pain doubtlessly thought to be a blonde woman.

Pain blinked and wondered what part of the joke he was missing on, as the others howled with laughter. He glanced bewildered at the blonde who was apparently glaring at all of them.

Pain cleared his throat, "What the hell is going on?"

At that precious moment Konan stepped in from behind the blonde. 'Blonde woman' as Pain had dubbed her by now, cowered at the appearance of the blue haired woman who looked every bit pissed off that Pain felt.

Pain sighed. He could already feel a headache forming, "Konan, what the hell is going on?"

Konan sent a glare at the blonde woman before replying curtly, "While you were away, our little Deidara_-chan," _she seethed, "decided to play a little game of bomb-the-maid," she continued menacingly, "which resulted to no maid. So I thought why not let _dear _Dei-chan play Little Miss Maid?"

Pain found himself gaping for the first time in decades. He looked over the blonde and asked feebly, "That is Deidara?"

The others guffawed.

Kisame commented, a nasty smirk on his lips, "He makes quite a pretty bimbo doesn't he, Leader-sama? Apart from..."

Hidan bluntly completed the sentence for him, "His flat chest."

Everyone howled with laughter as the bomber dressed in a maid uniform shrieked outrageously, "THAT'S BECAUSE I'M A MAN, UN!"

Everyone laughed more. Pain himself couldn't help but slip a small smirk. At last, he cleared his throat that immediately earned silence, "Well, it does suit you Deidara, flat chested or not..."

Deidara gasped in horror while everyone snickered. Pain continued, "...So you'll continue your post as," he looked Deidara all over in distaste, "...Akatsuki's maid for the time being."

Deidara's protests were lost to a series of laughter. He let the laughter die out before saying, "Meanwhile, Tobi will join in as Sasori's partner."

"YAH! LEADER-SAMA MADE TOBI SASORI-SAMA'S PARTNER! TOBI IS A GOOD BOY!"

Deidara looked like he would break into tears. He looked at the leader pleadingly and then at Sasori but his gaze went unnoticed as the puppet-master was busy eyeing the orange masked man in severe distaste. Deidara glared at Tobi for stealing his position. The bomber certainly wasn't pleased with the turn of events.

In fact the only people having a blast were Hidan and Kisame who were still chuckling and Tobi who was overjoyed and going berserk. Itachi and Sasori of course, didn't give a shit. Maybe Sasori did because it was the reason why he would be stuck with an idiot from now on... Konan seemed fairly satisfied as she joined them at the table, and this made Pain feel a little better despite the head-ache all these was bringing on.

"So... Dei-chan," Hidan wiggled his brows, "Bring in the food!"

Deidara looked like he would cry, but sensing Konan's menacing eyes on his back, he left, very red in the face, to bring the food.

There seemed to be a slight shift in Pain's mood. On a happier tone he said, "Having the maid's post filled with Deidara saves so much, especially now that we are low in funds."

Hidan and Kisame made a face, "Ew. Leader-sama you sound like money-whore."

Pain's eyes twitched, '_How dare they? Let's see what they think of this...'_

"... Kakuzu you are the new accountant of Akatsuki."

Everyone immediately groaned and burst into protests; Hidan and Kisame being the loudest.

"SHIT NO! THE MONEY-WHORE WILL MAKE US CHEAP!"

"NOO! HE WILL STARVE US TO OUR DEATH!"

"Hn."

"As long as he doesn't sell my puppets, I don't care."

"My flowers will not be sold to earn money!"

"TOBI IS A GOOD BOY! HE'LL DO AS KAKUZU-SAMA ASKS HIM TO DO!"

Kakuzu smiled at them creepily and laughed, "Mwuhahahaha."

Pain sweat-dropped. Just then Deidara came in with the food, which distracted everyone immediately from their previous skirmish.

"YAH! FOOD TIME! TOBI IS HUNGRY!"

"Hn."

"I body is designed in a fashion so that I don't have to eat, so I could care less."

"Meals three times a day is a waste. Eating once a day is perfectly sufficient and it would save so much money too."

"About fucking time!"

"Yah, I don't smell any shrimps in there."

"Yum Yum! This smells better than humans."

Deidara served everyone grumpily. Everyone looked most enthusiastic to dig in.

Pain looked over the items on his plate and smirked at Deidara, "Ah, the food looks delicious, Deidara..."

_**BOOM! **_

_**BOOM! **_

_**BANG!**_

...

...

...

The food exploded, spraying curries and such all over their faces and garbs...

...

...

...

Pain's eyes shot open, murder flashing clearly and vibrantly in his eyes.

...

...

...

"THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH! SASORI DRAW UP FLYERS! DAMN FUNDS, WE NEED A MAID!"

* * *

_To be continued..._

* * *

**A/N: **Editing is a more tedious job than writing... Anyways, you liked it?

**A Little Birdie Tells Me.**


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: **I do NOT own Naruto. Naruto and its characters are created by Masashi Kishimoto. This is purely Fanfiction and had been written for entertainment purposes only and without any intention of infringing upon any copyright. Also, smoking and consumption of alcohol or tobacco is injurious for the health. Thanks.

**A/N: **You might have come across this story before. This would be because I put this story up years back but due to some inconvenience, it got deleted from my account before I could finish it. So during the two years of absence, I've obviously improved more or less and now I want to give it a go. And this time I'll try my best to finish it.

* * *

**Wanted: Maid**

_Chapter 2_

* * *

Sakura fumbled through her way towards the Hokage's office where a very short-tempered woman with super-human strength rests. She was nervous; hell nervous. The Godaime didn't usually summon her at this time of the day (morning) since it was the busiest shift at the hospital, unless there was an emergency...

_'Or trouble,'_ Sakura thought sullenly, remembering the earlier events. With a nervous sigh she knocked on the lion's door.

A gruff "Come in." was heard.

Sakura gulped, _'God, please help me!'_

The room she entered was a mess. As usual mountains of unfinished paper works were piled on top of the table, blocking Tsunade from the sight. Sakura bowed at the woman behind the heaps of papers, "Tsunade-shishou!"

Tsunade's grumpy voice answered, "Sakura...WHAT THE HELL IS THE MEANING OF THIS?"

A moment of silence as Sakura contemplated on how best to respond. In the end she decided that she was done for either way, why not just take her chance and apologize and hope for the best.

So Sakura told the truth, making sure to emphasis the 'so' in her apology, "Shishou, I'm sooooooooo sorry. I didn't mean to cause a racket. I mean I was just frustrated because Kakashi was later than usual and then Sai called me ugly and fat and I kind of lost my temper. I mean if there's anything to be fixed then you can cut the amount from my salary! But of course, I prefer you didn't, but... What I'm trying to say is that I'm so sorry!" She finished rather lamely, her eyes glued on the ground.

Another moment of silence and then Tsunade's face poked out over the paper piles and blinked slowly. Sakura shut her eyes tight for what was coming up ahead. But what she didn't except was what the Godaime said next, "What are you talking about, Sakura?"

Sakura cracked open her eyes. Tsunade's head was poking over the papers as her face held complete bewilderment. Sakura bit her lips in disbelief. If she didn't know her mentor any better, she had just gotten off. Sakura smiled sheepishly trying to cover up her outburst.

"Er... Hehehe... It's nothing important, shishou! Don't mind me, you know me; I was just spewing crap like always."

Tsunade eyed her suspiciously, but didn't say anything. Sakura offered a nervous smile, trying not to flinch under her mentor's intense gaze as she remembered the earlier events of the morning that she had taken a part in.

* * *

_**"Good-morning, ugly!"**_

_**Twitch.**_

_**"Stop being such a jerk!"**_

_**Creepy smile.**_

_**"I think you've gained a few pounds since the last time I saw you..."**_

_**Twitch. Twitch.**_

_**"That's it!"**_

_**Haruno Sakura, known as the apprentice of Godaime Hokage, also very well known as 'the-crazy-pink-haired-girl-with-awesome-superhuman-strength' jumped to her feet and... **_

_**SLAM!**_

_**"SHANNARO!"**_

_**...and a dark haired boy could be seen flying towards the Hokage Mountains.**_

* * *

Sakura scratched her head as she replayed what happened with Sai. She had been damn sure that Sai had hit a door or window or something and broke it, thus Tsunade called her to punish her.

_'Ah! I got off!'_ Her Inner did a victory dance in her head.

Sakura shook off her nervousness and said with a honey coated voice, "Never mind my ramblings! Now shishou, what did you want to tell me?" She offered the best smile that she could.

Tsunade's bewildered expression turned to what could be compared with an angry bull's expression as she seethed, "WHAT THE HELL IS THE MEANING OF THIS?"

She shrieked thrusting a paper in her hand. Sakura shuddered, she didn't remember any crime which she committed involving papers... Or did she? Being in the same team as Naruto, it was quite difficult to keep track of what she did and what she didn't.

With shaky and sweaty hands she picked the paper that was thrown towards her. Sakura observed the page carefully, hoping desperately that this wasn't the evidence of some prank that Naruto had dragged her along in. No, it wasn't orange and that made Sakura sign inwardly in relief.

Instead, it was colorful.

And had weird colorful puppets doodled all over it.

It was a flyer, she realized.

And it also conveyed a message written in bold blood-red: "WANTED: MAID"

It had bubbly red cloud designs across the borders.

Sakura looked up at Tsunade skeptically, "What is this?"

Tsundae snorted, "Turn the page over and read the other side."

Sakura turned it over and read aloud,

_"Leader-sama specifically told me not to write this since it sounds desperate, but I say desperate times call for desperate measures. So I'm going to say this anyways, we are doomed! I don't think anyone of us hope to survive to carry out our evil plans of taking over the world, which is a pity. _

_I, for one, don't think my wooden stomach can hold any longer. Tobi's stomach exploded yesterday. Itachi looks paler than usual; I suppose he didn't consider an Uchiha's stomach could explode like any other normal person's. _

_Hidan is locked up in his room, praying to Jashin-'sama' more than usual; duh, hoping to be bestowed with 'immorality-to-stomach-explosion'. I mean if we have to continue eating these shit, I am pretty sure Hidan's immortality won't work with blowing up. I wonder is Hidan will let me have the bodies once he is done with his sacrifices... hmm, I'll have to ask him._

_Tenshi-sama has succumbed to severe stomach disorder and has resided in the toilet where Leader-sama finds the time to check up on her twice a day. I think Kisame may have a point. Leader-sama just might have a 'thing for her', as he puts it in._

_Speaking of Kisame, I haven't seen him in a while. Itachi says that he had decided he can't live with the prospect of cannibalism and have left Akatsuki for good. Leader-sama hadn't been able to find anyone without an upset stomach to send after Kisame. Lucky fish! No one has ever come into Akatsuki and left it and lived, before. Maybe I'll offer to hunt him down in exchange of an immunity to the rule of eating the poison passed in the name of food._

_Yes, Leader-sama is being a hypocrite and forcing us to eat the garbage that Deidara is cooking, though he doesn't touch anything himself. He insists on 'waste not, want not'. I keep telling Leader-sama that I'm a puppet and have no need for food and nutrition, but he won't hear a word. The only other exception is Konan-san. Of course, like I said earlier, Leader-sama has a thing for her._

_Even Zetsu, who has been harvesting his precious plants, was desperate enough to eat them today at breakfast. Plus, Kakuzu has just willingly offered all his savings for a maid. AND Kakuzu's savings means A LOT OF MONEY $_$ So if that isn't a sign of desperation, I don't know what is. To think that I might actually become desperate enough to eat my puppets! *shudders* No, my puppets are pieces of art; an eternal beauty meant to be preserved through time._

_Anyways, if you help us..._

_Hidan will introduce you to Jashin-sama and make sure that you are immune to Jashinist curses or whatever garbage he believes._

_Kakuzu's whole bank savings, which is worth more than you can imagine._

_You get to see Tobi's mysterious face._

_Zetsu will give you flowers, lots of them._

_Kisame won't bite._

_I promise, I won't rip out your insides and turn you into a puppet._

_Leader-sama will give you a trip around Amegakure._

_Tenshi-sama will give you a pretty maid uniform and her wings._

_A one night experience with Itachi, yes The Uchiha Itachi. Itachi of course, didn't offer this; in fact he has been paranoid enough to stay at least ten feet away from anyone who comes near him. But Leader-sama has ordered him to comply; he doesn't really have a choice. I think he plans to get killed by his brother before this happens. But don't be disappointed, Kakuzu offered to stitch Itachi to the bed post for you... ;) ;)_

_SO ARE YOU THE ONE? (We don't really care if you are the one or not, JUST HELP US!)_

_Contact information: Come to the outskirts of Amegakure where Akatsuki member will pick you up. _

_P.S- I don't like waiting."_

Sakura finished reading and looked at her mentor skeptically, "What the hell is this, shishou?"

Tsunade sighed, resting her head against her arm, "Remember the organization Jiraiya tells us about?"

The pinkette remembered the organization that consisted of Sasuke's elder killer brother among their ranks well. She looked incredulously, "Are you serious? Akatsuki? Needs a maid? Desperately?"

Tsunade sighed, "I don't know for sure but we need to obtain as much information as we can on the Akatsuki..."

Sakura was puzzled, "Why? Isn't Jiraiya-san already spying on them?"

"Yes, but we need inside information and say, if we were able to sneak someone of our ranks in their headquarters..."

Sakura could understand the implication behind her mentor's words. If played perfectly, there was a chance that it could be pulled off. And it would be such an advantage for Konoha to have over the criminal syndicate.

"...so that's why I'm sending you as their maid in disguise."

"Huh?"

There was a long silence as everything registered into Sakura's brain.

...

...

...

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? I CAN'T JUST WALK IN THEIR DEN! THEY'LL KILL ME!"

Tsunade coughed, "If you haven't noticed, they are desperate for a maid. I doubt they will kill someone who could help them. Maybe once your service is no longer required by them.." Tsunade noticed Sakura's horror filled face and added quickly, "But they'll need a maid as long as they live."

She again noticed Sakura's still horrified expression and realized what she had just said, "..oh! No, no, no! This is not a life-time mission, just about one month or so..."

Sakura twitched, "A whole month or two with psychotic murderers? JUST?" That was it; the Godaime was certainly losing her touch.

A knock interrupted them. Tsunade sighed and granted entry. Shizune strode in, obviously angry at something. Her eyes fell on the pink haired medic standing in the middle of the room. She glared at Sakura.

Said pinkette gulped... Sakura realized _just_ why Shizune was there. She was going to complain about Sakura's earlier incident where Sai was sent flying crashing into some valuable object (most probably a desk or a window) by her. Sakura gulped again. That's it. It was time to make decisions.

Either die at Tsunade's wrath or die in the Akatsuki's grasp.

Death was there waiting for her either way. And so she made up her mind hastily.

Shutting her eyes, she shouted interrupting Shizune who was just about to start her complaint, "I ACCEPT! I'll be on my way right away."

Without even glancing back Sakura rushed towards the exit.

Shizune's voice could be heard from behind, "Just a moment, Sakura!"

But Sakura ran out of the building and towards the Konoha Gate at blinding speed. Well, Akatsuki would provide her clothes and such and she was going to be disguised as a civilian, so there was no need to take anything with her.

Just as she was about to step out of the gate a deafening roar from the Hokage's office could be heard.

"HARUNO SAKURA!"

Sakura picked up her pace. If she was to die, better be in Akatsuki's hands than at her mentor's sadistic hands.

* * *

Sakura walked through the woods. Night had already fallen and there was still no sight of Amegakure. By then she was beginning to doubt the existence of the village in the first place. Perhaps, this was all just a hoax. It was enough ridiculous enough a notion, the Akatsuki needing a maid, to be considered as a hoax.

Besides, walking to keep up the ruse of a civilian was proving to be a highly annoying hindrance to her search. She could see through her civilian shoes, that her feet had already swollen. Sakura heaved an annoyed sigh.

Maybe she should just turn around and head back home. The Godaime was bound to have calmed down by now about her wrong-doings and would probably let her off the hook, at least she hoped so. Actually facing the consequence of her actions seemed much better than the prospect of finding a mythical village, which was getting bleaker and bleaker by the minute. And she was dog tired from all the walking.

Suddenly she skidded to a halt, all her six senses wide alert. She didn't dare extend her chakra to feel for the intruder in her radar, lest it was an Akatsuki and would result to the blow of her cover. But she didn't need to do any such thing, as a moment later a man dropped down on the ground from somewhere in the thick tree where he had been hiding, in front of her.

The man eyed her warily. Sakura had the intense urge to hurl at him, or at least glare draggers. But she didn't, because if played wrong, it would reveal her rank as a kunoichi which she wasn't prepared to do until and unless she was absolutely sure that this man was not Akatsuki but some other trouble.

So she pretended to be something that she hated terribly, but was very good at feigning. She pretended to be weak, something she loathed to the core of her being. But protocol calls.

Sakura lowered her lashes to look herself over discreetly and make sure everything was alright. She hadn't had the nerve to leave behind her headband since situations may arise where the identity of her village may become the difference between her life and possible death. She had instead tucked it under her shirt, on her waist.

She had taken off her apron skirt and was only clad in her dark shorts and red vest, both of which could easily be passed as civilian clothes. She had also cast a simple transforming jutsu over her weapons to change them in small, harmless hairpins, a trick she learned from Tenten, as she was unwilling to walk into an enemy liar without any forms of protection. She had carefully put the hairpins to tie her hair into a messy bun. She didn't bother fussing with the color of her hair since the Akatsuki had probably never laid their eyes on her; even Uchiha Itachi and his partner who very much resembled some species of shark, hadn't seen her during their invasion two years ago.

So she guessed she was safe from recognition. The main thing was to keep her chakra well cloaked. These were S-class international criminals, they wouldn't be so easy to fool. So she prayed to all the gods that would listen to her, that she looked every bit of an innocent, weak, little civilian girl with weird pink hair who was dressed in red tank top and black shorts.

Slowly she glanced up and sucked in a deep breath before taking a hesitant step forward.

"Er... mister, I'm Sakura..."

Sakura had decided to let her name remain as it was on her way. It would be easier to keep her lies as close to the truths, so that she could easily keep track of everything. She had seen many movies where the main characters have to go to under-cover missions and in the process of lying, they blow up their covers with little slip ups. She didn't want that. Because unlike movies, this was the reality. Therefore, it meant the difference between her life and death.

She continued with another breathe, "...And I wanted to a-ask you i-if you knew an-anything about," Sakura held out the colorful flyer, not daring to pronounce the word 'Akatsuki' lest it showed through her 'innocence'.

The man eyed the page in her hand, his lips curling with an odd kind of smile. He then turned his dark eyes on her sharply, regarding her once again. Sakura repressed the urge to shudder. Then almost shockingly, the man broke into a large grin; all signs of cruelty disappearing from his face.

Sakura cringed, maybe this was not Akatsuki after all. All this act for nothing, she sighed.

"Heh. Don't worry I won't hurt you, little girl. I am not an Akatsuki, but I have a friend there..."

Sakura blinked and almost squealed in relief that she had thought better of revealing her kunoichi rank.

The man said, "I am actually Hidan's banker. I'm returning him a favor, you know."

Sakura gave a weak smile. So this guy was not an Akatsuki, but a friend of an Akatsuki. How did that make it any better? They were criminals! Their friends must be criminals as well!

"Personally I don't understand why anyone would want to work for Akatsuki... I mean, making beds and doing dishes? Shit no!"

There was a pregnant pause in which Sakura supposed the man expected her to laugh or at least say something. But she didn't have anything to say. The atmosphere was getting awkward.

"Er... yeah, we should get going." The man scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

The faster they got this over with, the better.

* * *

_To be continued..._

* * *

**A/N: **This storyline follows just before the beginning of the Shippuden. So everyone knows of Akatsuki from Itachi and Kisame appearance from Part I. Hence, Sasori isn't dead. And the Akatsuki has no clue about the existence of our pink haired kunoichi.

**A Little Birdie Tells Me.**


End file.
